Dovizioso Hands Ducati Home Win at Mugello

Andrea Dovizioso claimed a memorable home victory for himself and Ducati after seeing off Maverick Vinales at Mugello. The Italian took his third career premier class win with Vinales extending his championship lead after Dani Pedrosa crashed on the final lap and Valentino Rossi was beaten to third by an inspired Danilo Petrucci.

Ducati hopes looked to be resting on the shoulders of Jorge Lorenzo early on with the Spaniard diving past Rossi for the lead on lap two but as the 2016 winner fell backwards, Dovizioso and Petrucci would be left to do battle against a pair of factory Yamahas. Vinales soon took over at the front, passing Rossi into Scarperia on lap four, but the leading group were still distancing the chasing pack being led by Marc Marquez.

The extraordinary power of the Ducati propelled Dovizioso past Rossi on lap six but Vinales was still able to keep the GP17 at arm’s length. That all changed with ten laps remaining as Dovizioso upped the pace, slipstreaming past the championship leader and slowly easing away as Vinales became embroiled in a battle with Petrucci.

In the end, the scrap for second was just enough to allow Dovizioso to break away, pulling out a one-second lead that he would control until the finish for a richly deserved victory. Vinales ultimately held off Petrucci for third with a fatigued Rossi forced to settle for fourth, three seconds off the lead.

Just when Honda’s afternoon couldn’t get any worse, Marquez was beaten to fifth by the customer Ducati of Alvaro Bautista while Dani Pedrosa lost the front end trying to pass Cal Crutchlow on the last lap, wiping both riders out. It was a sign of their lack of competitiveness though that the pair were fighting for eleventh at the time.

Johann Zarco’s gamble on soft tyres didn’t quite pay off as he finished seventh, overcoming Lorenzo who faded badly after leading the opening laps. Wildcard Michele Pirro finished just behind his team-mate in ninth while Andrea Iannone completed the top ten for Suzuki.